Before I start my thanks, I should note that this annual column used to be more fun. It used to dissect the year behind us in an often funny and interesting way. But in the 18 years of doing this, the entertainment media has changed dramatically. And I have become a bit exhausted from being the guy who points to what is true and untrue as the wheel turns. These days, outlets throw it all against the way, reporting incorrectly, then eventually reporting what is correct as though they never had it wrong. That way, they get twice the hits and none of the responsibility. Having to explain what really happened last summer at the box office instead of just repeating the endlessly repeated (and deeply misleading) media meme based on the single stat of overall domestic gross is getting tiresome. Spending your life with a finger in a dike is no way to live (unless you like puns and your gender identity is… well, you know).

I had a “Twitter fight” with a friend last week about the language he used to describe something and his suggestion, as it has been before, was to trust my readers more. And I have to say, it’s not about trusting the reader. Being a journalist is not about trusting the reader to figure it out. It is about arming the reader with enough clear facts to know what is happening and for them to make determinations about how they feel based on those facts. We are not here to tell people how to feel. Facts and Feelings are not the same thing and if the job of the journalist continues to degrade to constantly telling everyone what the meal is, how to eat it, and what their shit should look like afterwards, “journalist” will be a term our grandchildren think of the way we think of spats. Those of us who can still make a living doing this will just be “personalities.”

I have a lot of personality, for better and worse, but I love the idea of journalism. And I am thankful for what is left of it.

And now…

I Am Thankful For movies that still get me. I want to be surprised. I want to be shocked. I want to cry. I want to laugh so hard that I can’t hear the next line. And in an era where the expectations are endlessly managed there are still movies that can reach past the marketing and the buzz and the hype and rush like a shot of adrenaline to my soul. Every time I feel like I am done, a movie raises me from that figurative death… in an instant… a flash… a sequence in which I know I am in the hands of a master filmmaker aspiring to their highest level of work.

I Thank the people in my portion of the portion of the film business who remind me by their actions that the people are still more important than the machine. It can be the head of a studio or the assistant to a lower-level executive, it is all too easy to forget that everything is not a tactic… that real people who seek things about which they can be proud, aside from a big paycheck. Parenthood and all the complications that ensue have become a big part of breaking through that clutter with a lot of people. But even beyond that, I am sometimes allowed a glimpse of reality by real people who are not worrying that I am going to use it against them and it is in those moments, that I find a reason to go on with this odd work I do.

I Can’t Me More Thankful To the more than 250 people who have given me a half hour or more (or occasionally a bit less) of their lives to do a DP/30 interview. Talent has been commoditized to a great degree in this industry. But I am not after an opening day number sparked by as many moments as can shoved into the consumer consciousness in the two weeks before release with these interviews. My choice is not a judgement of that system so much as an acknowledgement that, personally, I value something else. And in 30 minutes, few of my subjects chose to avoid that greater thing. I don’t ask for hidden intimacies from my guests, but they give me – and my viewers – their stories. And I value every one of them, whether they have 300 views or 300,000.

I Thank my ongoing readership, many of whom are a bit ticked off that I have started tending the DP/30 garden much more aggressively than I have my blog. I miss writing as much as I wrote. I miss actively cultivating a group of both chatty and silent readers on a daily basis. Time is a harsh taskmaster. And the instant, short-form of Twitter has become an easier form of engagement. Add to that then endless amount of writing on every subject by every outlet by people qualified and not, and I find my self less-than-willing to contribute to the noise. But again, I thank those of you who continue to stick with me and I hope to find enough funding for DP/30 this next few months to allow myself time for more writing.

I Thank the publicists who support my work… the ones that don’t… and the ones who still don’t really know me or bother to know me. But mostly the first group. This is not charity work and everyone earns their place in the food chain. But there are bunch of people out there who represent talent and movies and understand the short and long term value of what my work does for their clients and films. The ones who don’t get what I do keep me focused on delivering something of greater value each year, without becoming just another a piece of business. And those who really couldn’t care less keep me angry… sometimes at the ones who are supporters and just happen to be stuck in the way.

Thank God For my family, who support me and put up with me year after year. My wife is going on a Don Quixote mission of her own this year, so it is on me to support her in that journey. My son will be 5 years old in a few weeks and aside from a couple of trips to the plastic surgeon for stitches, is in great health, spirit, and energy. In this, I am truly blessed.

Thank The Fates for the people who surprise me…. new friends… Twitter friends… people I just didn’t see coming. As this column suggests, my life is a little narrow these days. But unexpected genuineness is a remarkable, life-affirming thing. (And I quietly thank some others for remaining the shallow, selfish fools that have always been. Gotta have a baseline!)

I Am Thankful that I work for myself and have for these last 13 years. I have been very lucky. Very. The only downside is that I may have made myself unhire-able should I ever want a job. But still, I have been allowed a consistency and control that very, very few of my peers have and for that I can’t ever be thankful enough… even in those moments when it is a giant pain in the hind quarters.

I Have To Thank DP/30 itself. I would have left the business of covering film by now if I had not happened into this series. It started as a wild idea, driven by circumstance and now, I feel it is a calling for me. It contributes something that just doesn’t exist otherwise. There are all kinds of strengths and weaknesses with the product – and with its host – but there is nothing else that delivers this kind of deep-dip experience as often, a widely-reaching in guests, or as cleanly. What makes it unique also inhibits its growth. But it is also what makes it valuable. And ironically, that is the story of most of the people who have found a place in the industry and end up being on DP/30. Like I wrote, a calling, not a job. My life’s work has been about finding what feels like callings, but can also pay the bills. This makes me very blessed indeed.

Thanks to everyone who loves film. To everyone who believes. To everyone who care. To everyone who disagrees civilly (and occasionally those who are uncivil in a civil way). To everyone who still gives a damn about others and doesn’t just get buried under the avalanche of the work.

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